The first rule about Culinary Fight Club

Four chefs. 60 Minutes. Their goal? To create unique, appetizing and gourmet tailgating eats, fit for a football game. To create food this delicious requires not only skills, but efficiency, attention to detail, and the most important factor: incorporating Samuel Adams Beer and ground beef into their dish. Their teams were battle tested, but only one chef could come out victorious.

Chef Michael Hogan. Chef Matt Burt. Chef Dallas Brunner. Chef Giovanni Franco. Your Culinary Fight Club contestants. The first priority? Pick ingredients comprising their dish. Each chef had one minute to grab all the ingredients they could handle,courtesy of the Dining Dash race. One caveat: they could only carry ingredients in the apron they were wearing. Their next step? Creation.

At their respective stations you could hear “Yes Chef, no Chef!” Each second, each minute, counting down. Aromas combining to create“the tailgate smell.” Each chef showed no signs of nervousness working faster with precision handling. Adding to the atmosphere were the many guests taking pictures, asking questions,gazing curiously as each plate came together.

However, the fans don’t determine the winners: Our judges do: Alan Rust (President:Nebraska Food Touring Company), Zac Delap (NBC’s Food Fighters Champ), and Will Silvey Simons (Yelp Omaha Community Manager). They were ready and eager to test the skills of these chefs. Each chef presented their plate awaiting their fate from the judges.

Each chef did an amazing job and made their restaurants proud. Unfortunately, only one winner could be chosen. After much deliberation our winners were announced. The Fan vote: Chef Michael Hogan’s gourmet burger dog with special slaw and beer cheese sauce: A savory taste that created a unique flavor in a unique shape.

The winner by Judges vote: Chef Dallas Brunner, Chef de Cuisine from Spencer’s Steak & Chops. His innovative dish was grilled oysters with a beer gastric on a bed of grilled corn, seasoned ground beef and peppers. You can even utilize the shell as the scooper to enjoy the corn relish. Truly, a dish that could and would be eaten at any upscale tailgating event.

Finding happiness and joy along with continual improvement of myself. You can call me the Walking Heart. Avid lover of all things that deal with poetry, music, outdoors and quite simply: Life
Blogger for Discover Omaha and The Eighth Orchid